Panel To Discuss Canoe Proposal Monday

HARTLAND — The planning and zoning commission will talk Monday about action it will take in response to Main Stream Canoes' application to launch canoes in West Hartland, Chairman Steve Bibeau said.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the town hall annex on South Road.

The company has filed an application with the state Department of Transportation to lease the department's .75-acre parcel on Route 20 and Hogback Road.

In late June, the department offered the land -- described as ``excess property'' -- to the state Department of Environmental Protection, according to David Labossiere, division chief of property management for the DOT.

Bibeau said the planning and zoning commission recently wrote a letter to the DOT alerting officials to the zoning violations that Main Stream Canoes could create. Launching canoes would also violate 100-foot setback regulations along the Farmington River, Bibeau said.

The commission will discuss sending a similar letter to the DEP, Bibeau said.

Representatives of Main Stream Canoes, which is based in New Hartford, appeared at the June planning and zoning meeting to provide information about the application. John and Joseph Casey of Main Stream Canoes said before the meeting that they were attending as a courtesy to the town.

Labossiere said the company's application is on hold until the DEP decides whether it wants the property.